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Released February 23, 2023 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The recently-announced $586 million merger between U.S.-based Nabors Energy Transition Corporation (NETC) (NYSE:NETC) (Houston, Texas) and Australian solar firm Vast Solar Pty. Ltd (Sydney, Australia) has opened conversations about types of solar installations. While more than 90% of worldwide solar capacity currently takes the form of photovoltaic panels (PV), Vast reports it has spent 10 years researching and designing concentrated solar power (CSP) systems.
Both processes catch the sun's rays to make electricity, but they diverge in method. The very familiar PV panels turn absorbed sunlight into electricity, and an inverter converts that power into a grid-appropriate form. There are several types of CSP systems, but they generally use parabolic mirrors to concentrate the sun's heat into a tower that transfers the heat into a fluid, usually molten salt, to temperatures above 700˚-1,000˚Fahrenheit. Through a heat exchanger, that fluid transfers its heat to water to create steam, powering a turbine that generates electricity.
Vast's technology in particular uses a "scalable modular tower design in combination with an innovative and differentiated sodium loop technology for heat transfer, which increases system efficiency and lowers costs," according to the company website.
Pluses and Minuses of Each
PV solar dominates the solar power realm for one main reason: It's less expensive to install and produces a relatively high level of energy per acre. It is also easily scalable, useful in everything from tiny pocket calculators to home/office rooftops to utility-scale installations. Its main downside is what happens when the sun is dim or gone--the latter of which happens daily. Without battery backup, PV produces zero power at night and less than full capacity during cloudy weather, making it unsuitable for baseline supply.
For CSP, startup costs are high and its energy concentration per acre is less than PV's. According Britt Burt, IIR's vice president of research for the global Power Industry, the cost of CSP can be 4-5 times greater than that of a similarly-sized PV installation. Other sources point out that the energy it produces per acre of installation is less than that of PVs. Because CSP involves constructing a tower and the placement of reflectors, and is connected to a separate generation system to make the electricity, it is not scalable for anything smaller than utilities.
CSP's main advantage is that the fluid it heats can store the absorbed heat underground, allowing the facility to provide baseline power, at least for a while. That stored power can also be used in industrial applications.
Where the Sun Shines Bright
Currently, Spain leads the world in CSP facilities, accounting for 42% of all the world's systems of that type. The largest CSP location in the U.S. is California's Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, with a capacity of 392 megawatts (MW). In the U. S. as a whole, some have counted 52 CSP installations, with no new ones completed since 2016.
IIR's Burt adds that most CSV projects currently in development are in the Middle East and Africa (Morocco is home to the world's largest CSV location, the Ouarzazate Solar Power Station, capable of 510 MW), China and elsewhere. And due to their size requirements, most are located on deserts such as the Ivanpah in the Mojave Desert and the Ouarzazate in Africa's Sahara Desert.
In its World Energy Outlook 2022, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that by 2050 there would be just over 430 GW of new CSP installations worldwide. That sounds like a lot, but it would only be 1% of total world energy supplies. By that year, the agency predicted, 81% of the world's energy would be renewable, with 46% coming from solar PV sources and 23% from wind. Burt believes that "as time moves forward, we will potentially see more of the CSP projects move forward but not on a grand scale."
Vast Improvement
NETC's announcement says the Vast connection is its "ninth and largest energy transition investment to date," according to a statement from NETC's parent company, Nabors Industries, Incorporated (NYSE:NBR) (Houston). Vast's website adds that the effort includes a "Joint Development and Licensing Agreement to jointly develop technology to improve Vast's CSP systems by leveraging Nabors expertise in automation, robotics, remote operations, material science, among others."
The main advantage for CSP would seem to be baseline energy storage, but even then a series of cloudy days could slow production. Fortunately, most of them are in deserts, where a rainy season is unlikely. But as the world pivots away from fossil fuels and as costs of lithium and other battery materials rise, baseline capacity could become more important--boosting CSP above the currently expected 1% level.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
Both processes catch the sun's rays to make electricity, but they diverge in method. The very familiar PV panels turn absorbed sunlight into electricity, and an inverter converts that power into a grid-appropriate form. There are several types of CSP systems, but they generally use parabolic mirrors to concentrate the sun's heat into a tower that transfers the heat into a fluid, usually molten salt, to temperatures above 700˚-1,000˚Fahrenheit. Through a heat exchanger, that fluid transfers its heat to water to create steam, powering a turbine that generates electricity.
Vast's technology in particular uses a "scalable modular tower design in combination with an innovative and differentiated sodium loop technology for heat transfer, which increases system efficiency and lowers costs," according to the company website.
Pluses and Minuses of Each
PV solar dominates the solar power realm for one main reason: It's less expensive to install and produces a relatively high level of energy per acre. It is also easily scalable, useful in everything from tiny pocket calculators to home/office rooftops to utility-scale installations. Its main downside is what happens when the sun is dim or gone--the latter of which happens daily. Without battery backup, PV produces zero power at night and less than full capacity during cloudy weather, making it unsuitable for baseline supply.
For CSP, startup costs are high and its energy concentration per acre is less than PV's. According Britt Burt, IIR's vice president of research for the global Power Industry, the cost of CSP can be 4-5 times greater than that of a similarly-sized PV installation. Other sources point out that the energy it produces per acre of installation is less than that of PVs. Because CSP involves constructing a tower and the placement of reflectors, and is connected to a separate generation system to make the electricity, it is not scalable for anything smaller than utilities.
CSP's main advantage is that the fluid it heats can store the absorbed heat underground, allowing the facility to provide baseline power, at least for a while. That stored power can also be used in industrial applications.
Where the Sun Shines Bright
Currently, Spain leads the world in CSP facilities, accounting for 42% of all the world's systems of that type. The largest CSP location in the U.S. is California's Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, with a capacity of 392 megawatts (MW). In the U. S. as a whole, some have counted 52 CSP installations, with no new ones completed since 2016.
IIR's Burt adds that most CSV projects currently in development are in the Middle East and Africa (Morocco is home to the world's largest CSV location, the Ouarzazate Solar Power Station, capable of 510 MW), China and elsewhere. And due to their size requirements, most are located on deserts such as the Ivanpah in the Mojave Desert and the Ouarzazate in Africa's Sahara Desert.
In its World Energy Outlook 2022, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that by 2050 there would be just over 430 GW of new CSP installations worldwide. That sounds like a lot, but it would only be 1% of total world energy supplies. By that year, the agency predicted, 81% of the world's energy would be renewable, with 46% coming from solar PV sources and 23% from wind. Burt believes that "as time moves forward, we will potentially see more of the CSP projects move forward but not on a grand scale."
Vast Improvement
NETC's announcement says the Vast connection is its "ninth and largest energy transition investment to date," according to a statement from NETC's parent company, Nabors Industries, Incorporated (NYSE:NBR) (Houston). Vast's website adds that the effort includes a "Joint Development and Licensing Agreement to jointly develop technology to improve Vast's CSP systems by leveraging Nabors expertise in automation, robotics, remote operations, material science, among others."
The main advantage for CSP would seem to be baseline energy storage, but even then a series of cloudy days could slow production. Fortunately, most of them are in deserts, where a rainy season is unlikely. But as the world pivots away from fossil fuels and as costs of lithium and other battery materials rise, baseline capacity could become more important--boosting CSP above the currently expected 1% level.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
